Quilt Index

Here's a lovely story of a young man's gratitude for the staff of a London hospital who take care of him as a premature baby, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=stories&kid=41-123-29. Go to the link to read the full story of 13-year-old Jackson Cloyd.

For Juneteenth the QI presents the Michigan African American Quilt Stories page, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=specialcolls&kid=12-91-1390. Click on View all records in this project and choose from the 24 audio interviews. The interveiws were the result of research in the 1980s in African American quiltmaking that culmintated in the book "African-American Quiltmaking in Michigan" edited by Marsha MacDowell (the QI Director) and the exhibit "Quilting Sisters: African-American Quiltmaking in Michigan" that can be found on this QI page, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=exhibits&kid=12-91-462. Featured in this post is Rafiki by Carole Harris, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-5261.

Here's a story from yours truly! For fifteen years I made baby quilts for babies of nieces, nephews, friends grandbabies, co-workers babies, etc., until I finally got to make one for my own grandson. As I type this I'm recovering from a weekend visit, from my now rambunctious, energizer bunny of a five-year-old granson. https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=stories&kid=51-149-93

Here's a quilt that is rather ordinary in design and ex*****on, but extraordinary in its story. See the quilt on this page, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-9261. At the bottom of the page, it links to its story, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=stories&kid=12-91-485. So, make sure and scroll to the bottom of any quilt page to see if it links to a story or a piece of ephemera.

This story page records the Star Quilt Thank You ceremony by the North Cheyenne Elders in Billings, Montana in October of 2012. Go to the page to learn who this quilt was made for and why, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=stories&kid=41-123-36.

Over the years, many quilt guilds have conducted interviews with their members. Those interviews can be added to the story section of the Quilt Index. The Minnesota Quilt Project has added many stories to the QI. The group can be found on the Minnesota Quilt Stories page, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=specialcolls&kid=19-114-3. Featured in this post is an interview with Rose Marie Werner who is the champion researcher, collector, and cataloguer of quilt kits, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=stories&kid=19-114-24. Her story page links to 11 quilts that she collected and documented with the Minnesota Quilt Project. If your guild has interviews, contact Beth ([email protected]) to get started adding them to the QI.

Behind every quilt is a story. The QI has a section featuring stories about quilts and their makers, https://quiltindex.org/stories/all/. The featured quilt in this post is from the story of the Palo Verde (AZ) Patchers and the quilts they've made and present to veterans, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=stories&kid=51-149-217. This page shows 25 quilts with their recipients. Each quilt has its own page where it can be compared to the more than 100,000 quilts in the QI.

Here's a link to all the quilts identified as an America Quilts 250! History Project record, https://quiltindex.org/results/?search=quilts&qproject=America%20Quilts%20250!%20History%20Project. Keep checking back as we add more to this list. Featured today is the Le Cheneaux Centennial quilt, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-67. The Le Cheneaux Islands are on the northern shore of Lake Michigan in the Upper Penninsula.

This quilt is in the collection of the International Quilt Museum and was probably made as a centennial quilt, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=fullrec&kid=36-34-554

Emancipation to Equality: A Long Journey Continues uses the flag motif to relay a message, https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-6781